So now, as if it is important to look for abstract people to blame for the "facebook" revolutions in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Yemen and other areas of the greater Middle East, Glenn Beck has pointed his ever so "self-righteous" finger at a one, Jared Cohen. Jared Cohen is one of the youngest members of the State Department who worked under both Secretary Rice and Clinton. He is a graduate of Stanford and a Rhodes Scholar and author of the book Children of Jihad in which he illuminates the processes that turn some of the Muslim youth to radicalism. He recently left the State Department to work for Google, and has been credited (and blamed) for bringing social media into politics and governments. Obviously this is one smart guy and brought fresh technological ideas to the State Department. He utilized Twitter as a resource for spreading information more quickly and bringing people together over commonalities.
Much as he should be credited for the spread of such a valuable resource, Glenn Beck, who calls him out as someone to be blamed for the spreading revolutions is completely off the mark. The scary thing is, people LISTEN to this man. Now, I am a moderate and not biased against conservatives but this is not the first completely out of the world of reason comment that Mr. Beck has made. He makes republicans look bad. In a former post I mentioned how he criticized Hilary Clinton for promoting Al Jazeera as a legitimate news source and urging our news networks to step up our game in the information wars.
It truly saddens and angers me that Glenn Beck is such a influential figure to a substantial American audience. He seems to be completely bent on US supremacy. While we must continue to protect our interests and maintain our personal sovereignty and security, it is really important to realize that this is a new era for the Middle East in which they have a chance at everything our values stand for. Constitutions, human rights, democracy, etc. The idea that this is about us is so selfish. We must play it carefully and monitor where threats could be, but it is insulting and angering for a figure like Mr. Beck to accuse a US civil servant who has worked tirelessly for this country and peace in others of conspiring against his own country. Beck has always been out for blood it seems, and I am ashamed to have his words broadcasted around the world as an "American" opinion. I am so thankful even that Glenn Beck and I can freely express what it is we believe. Give others a chance for that, be it Twitter, Facebook, Blogs and any other type of media!
One last point, then I promise, I'm done.
Revolutions, though aided by social media, are not invented by them. It is the modern version of underground newspapers and publicly distributed fliers. This is nothing new, just faster and more accessible now. Its the next logical step towards using these tools.
Jared Cohen's Blog/Twitter
Old Blog
http://jaredcohen.wordpress.com/
New Blog
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jared-cohen
Twitter
http://twitter.com/jaredcohen
It was Mr. Cohen who asked Twitter to stay up foregoing scheduled maintenance so Iranians could continue to utilize it during their public uprisings.
"On Monday afternoon, a 27-year-old State Department official, Jared Cohen, e-mailed the social-networking site Twitter with an unusual request: delay scheduled maintenance of its global network, which would have cut off service while Iranians were using Twitter to swap information and inform the outside world about the mushrooming protests around Tehran.
The request, made to a Twitter co-founder, Jack Dorsey, is yet another new-media milestone: the recognition by the United States government that an Internet blogging service that did not exist four years ago has the potential to change history in an ancient Islamic country. ...
Twitter complied with the request, saying in a blog post on Monday that it put off the upgrade until late Tuesday afternoon — 1:30 a.m. Wednesday in Tehran — because its partners recognized “the role Twitter is currently playing as an important communication tool in Iran.” The network was working normally again by Tuesday evening."
- Taken from JTA Blogs
Much as he should be credited for the spread of such a valuable resource, Glenn Beck, who calls him out as someone to be blamed for the spreading revolutions is completely off the mark. The scary thing is, people LISTEN to this man. Now, I am a moderate and not biased against conservatives but this is not the first completely out of the world of reason comment that Mr. Beck has made. He makes republicans look bad. In a former post I mentioned how he criticized Hilary Clinton for promoting Al Jazeera as a legitimate news source and urging our news networks to step up our game in the information wars.
It truly saddens and angers me that Glenn Beck is such a influential figure to a substantial American audience. He seems to be completely bent on US supremacy. While we must continue to protect our interests and maintain our personal sovereignty and security, it is really important to realize that this is a new era for the Middle East in which they have a chance at everything our values stand for. Constitutions, human rights, democracy, etc. The idea that this is about us is so selfish. We must play it carefully and monitor where threats could be, but it is insulting and angering for a figure like Mr. Beck to accuse a US civil servant who has worked tirelessly for this country and peace in others of conspiring against his own country. Beck has always been out for blood it seems, and I am ashamed to have his words broadcasted around the world as an "American" opinion. I am so thankful even that Glenn Beck and I can freely express what it is we believe. Give others a chance for that, be it Twitter, Facebook, Blogs and any other type of media!
One last point, then I promise, I'm done.
Revolutions, though aided by social media, are not invented by them. It is the modern version of underground newspapers and publicly distributed fliers. This is nothing new, just faster and more accessible now. Its the next logical step towards using these tools.
Jared Cohen's Blog/Twitter
Old Blog
http://jaredcohen.wordpress.com/
New Blog
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jared-cohen
http://twitter.com/jaredcohen
It was Mr. Cohen who asked Twitter to stay up foregoing scheduled maintenance so Iranians could continue to utilize it during their public uprisings.
"On Monday afternoon, a 27-year-old State Department official, Jared Cohen, e-mailed the social-networking site Twitter with an unusual request: delay scheduled maintenance of its global network, which would have cut off service while Iranians were using Twitter to swap information and inform the outside world about the mushrooming protests around Tehran.
The request, made to a Twitter co-founder, Jack Dorsey, is yet another new-media milestone: the recognition by the United States government that an Internet blogging service that did not exist four years ago has the potential to change history in an ancient Islamic country. ...
Twitter complied with the request, saying in a blog post on Monday that it put off the upgrade until late Tuesday afternoon — 1:30 a.m. Wednesday in Tehran — because its partners recognized “the role Twitter is currently playing as an important communication tool in Iran.” The network was working normally again by Tuesday evening."
- Taken from JTA Blogs
Sorry to comment on my own post, but check out Jared's post on "Social Media" in October of 2009 on the Huffington Post blog. Really says everything I was hoping to say about it being just another logical tool to use, but he says it much better.
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